Friends Of Boston Homeless, Inc.

1. End chronic homelessness through Housing First strategies, and subsequently supporting the services that stabilize people once housed so they don't return to homelessness.

2. Support programs to reduce reliance on shelter and prevent new people from becoming chronically homeless including Rapid Rehousing, Front Door Triage, and Coordinated Access. Data show the majority of people experiencing homelessness are not chronically homeless but instead experience “crisis homelessness”. Many of those individuals will resolve their own homeless episode with little to no intervention, but others will need some assistance in order to regain stability. Rapid Rehousing is an important tool to move people back to housing and prevent non-chronically homeless individuals from falling into chronic homelessness.

3. Continue to expand our Housing Start-up Fund to assist newly housed people on their paths to independence by covering one-time exam, professional certification/licensing fees and/or one-time fees to enroll in training or education programs to help them secure gainful employment, fulfill career goals and ultimately achieve housing and financial independence.

4. Build a broad base of public, private, and non-profit partners to support this work in the City of Boston.

5. Collaborate with other private organizations, city and state agencies, shelters, and foundations to support strategies to address homeless trends including a focus on the growing elderly and young adult homeless population.

People experiencing homelessness have myriad vulnerabilities. They suffer from complex health and mental health disabilities that are essentially impossible to address amidst the chaos of homelessness. They are also often victims of crime, their safety constantly at risk. Housing people first through Housing First and Rapid Rehousing strategies, ends this tragedy by placing our community’s vulnerable people in housing first.

-Moves people quickly from the streets/shelters into their own apartments – immediately ending their homelessness and improving their quality of life.

-By removing the chaos of living on the streets and in shelters, people finally can, and do, engage in services and go on to live stable independent lives.

-Demonstrates that once people are housed they connect with health care providers and case managers, engage in support groups, establish routines, build relationships with family, friends, and community, and move on to more independent living – decreasing their need for services over time.

The most significant barrier to immediately housing people is Housing Start-up Costs: security deposits, first/last month’s rent, initial rental gaps, and essential furniture and household items like beds and linens we all need for our new homes. Because all are homeless, their savings are usually non-existent and none have furniture or other household items we need to make our house a home.

For many gainful employment is a vital part of stability, but like housing start-up most lack the resources to achieve it. For those who can and desire to work, our Start-up fund covers one-time costs for certification/licensing/exam, and course fees to help newly housed people secure gainful employment, pursue careers, and ultimately lead rewarding lives and achieve independence.

Our Housing & Career Start-up Fund

-Fills a critical gap in funding by covering initial housing costs, like security deposits and first month’s rent, to help move people quickly from the streets/shelters right into safe, dignified housing: immediately ending their homelessness and improving their quality of life.

-Provides essential furniture and household items like new beds and linens for people as they move into their own apartments and gets them started on their journey to living peaceful, hopeful lives.

-Covers one-time exam/certification/licensing fees, vocational training registration or other work-related items to help newly housed people achieve independence.

-Ends homelessness & transforms lives – providing a dignified, successful, and cost-saving solution for people struggling with homelessness, their families, and our community as a whole.

Working closely with program staff, who identify client needs, our flexible Fund allows us to respond quickly to secure a unit, order furniture or hire movers to deliver donated items. In Boston’s competitive housing market, timing is critical: landlords won’t wait and people cannot move into an empty apartment.

Friends is distinguished by our unique public/private partnership with Boston Public Health Commission's Homeless Services Bureau. Like a PTO or “Friends of the Public Library” group, we bridge the gap between public sector funding and the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

Our Fund is a perfect example. Working with Boston’s highly successful Housing First/Rapid Rehousing programs, our Fund bridges the gap between public sector funds and the need to help people move directly and quickly from the streets/shelters into dignified housing and connect with the services they need to live hopeful, peaceful lives. Our Fund is a focused initiative that provides critical “but for” funds to achieve this.

Working closely with program staff, who identify client needs, our flexible Fund allows us to respond quickly to secure a unit, order furniture or hire movers to deliver donated items. In Boston’s competitive housing market, timing is critical: landlords won’t wait and people cannot move into an empty apartment.

Our Housing and Career Start-up fund is unique and fills a citywide gap in funding by providing the focused and flexible “but for” funds necessary to quickly house individuals. Our start-up funds are easily accessible and are not provided by any other organization in the city. Recently, Friends Director joined a working group convened by three local hospitals who are collaborating on an Innovative Stable Housing Initiative (ISHI) to identify opportunities to support and enhance existing efforts to promote housing stability in Boston. The newly formed ISHI Flex Fund Committee is seeking to replicate or access a similar fund as our Housing and Career Start-up to avoid the bureaucratic delays most agencies face when trying to help individuals into housing.

Long-term, we’ve set aside funds in a cash reserve totaling one year of operating expenses in case of a catastrophic event and maintain a reserve for replacement fund for capital improvements to our community housing programs. With a small staff and office in the basement of one of our Community Houses, overhead costs are low. As our staff ages, this year we will also develop a Succession Plan to ensure a smooth transition. As our Board also ages, we recently created a Young Professional Advisory Board that reflects our ability to evaluate our organization, identify trends, and develop new programs to address these trends and donors to support them.

We continue to build relationships with current donors and partners through good stewardship and work to identify new supporters by implementing a number of strategies (major gifts, grant writing, sponsorships, events, volunteerism, email marketing/social media campaigns, housewarming registry) to build and maintain a broad base of supporters to continue to expand our work and serve more people in need.

Since 2009, our Housing Start-up Fund has helped over 3,500 people move into safe, dignified, permanent housing (27% slept in places not meant for human habitation prior to being housed). Today over 90% remain housed. in addition, those housed reduced emergency room visits by 54%; the number of people with substance issues participating in treatment/recovery increased to 87%, and within 18 months, about 30% achieved gainful employment, increased benefits, and were able to maintain their housing without ongoing subsidies.

And our Career Start-up Fund has now helped over 150 people obtain professional certifications that give them a competitive edge in the job market, fulfill their career goals, and secure gainful rewarding employment, and ultimately achieve housing and financial independence. They’ve become EMTs and Certified Nursing Assistants, restaurant managers and sous chefs, phlebotomists and pharmacy techs, construction safety managers and steam firemen, recovery coaches and counselors.

In 2022 and looking ahead five years, our yearly program goals and objectives are:

• Help end chronic homelessness in Boston by helping house at least 300 chronically homeless people through Housing First initiatives and supporting the services that stabilize people once housed so they do not return to homelessness.
• Help house a minimum of 300 people identified through Rapid Rehousing and Front Door Triage strategies and in subsequent years; expand to help 400 people yearly so they don’t become chronically homeless.
• Provide Career Start-up support for at least 50 people by expanding and coordinating access to skill training, education and specialized employment services that meet their needs and aspirations.
• As we fulfill the above goals, partner with other small organizations serving other groups of people experiencing homelessness such as families and the elderly, to provide Start-up support for their clients.
• Continue to build a broad base of public, private, and non-profit partners to support this work.